Country Dreaming

I feel like I’m on the verge of several different changes, both personal and career-wise, both writing and the Evil Day Job. We’re finally on the verge of coming out of a dark hole we’ve been in for years. The world is changing, as technology changes. People are in scramble mode everywhere to figure out where the industries are heading toward. What’s the next big thing?

Who the hell knows.

What I do know is that we’ve been up to my dad’s two weekends in a row (sorry, Sis, we promise to go in Nov too as soon as your schedule frees up!) and we’ve had the BEST time. Sure, we have a bonfire and roast hotdogs, etc. but it’s more than that. It’s the time we share with my dad out in the country.

The girls are learning so much — just in the few hours we’re there. They’re learning how to be friends with their horses AND how to ride. They’re seeing cows, quail, a real garden. They walked down by the pond the other night and saw 4 raccoons. There’s no McDonald’s or Wal-Mart within a 30 min radius. It’s small town all the way. We hardly even get a cell signal, unless we’re sitting outside.

Every time we come back to our city life, I wonder what it’d be like to stay. Since I telecommute, I can work anywhere, as long as I can get high-speed internet. Even That Man’s job is moving home, hopefully later this month, so he isn’t bound to commuting into the city.

However, my greatest worry is the country school. Our schools here are Gold Star, advanced, 4A schools, compared to 1A barely getting by school that both That Man and I graduated from. We deliberately chose to live here because the schools are some of the best in the state. I know firsthand how hard it was to get scholarships to college, even though I was valedictorian and had a 4.27 gpa. As a math major, I never even took Calculus until college. My school just didn’t have it.

So I hesitate. I worry about making it harder for my kids to be successful by starting them out at a less than stellar school system. But then I see their glowing faces as they ride their horses, with Papa coaching them in the corral, and I see the sadness in their eyes as we say goodbye and come home.

As technology makes it more and more possible to do things we never even dreamed about before, I at the same time long for a simple life. Where we eat mostly what we grow and prepare our own foods the majority of the time, because there’s only Peggy’s diner down the road. (Do you know how much easier it’d be for me to stick to my diet if we didn’t have so many places to eat out?)

I don’t know if we’ll ever get there. But I am dreaming about it. And CHICKENS!

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8 thoughts on “Country Dreaming”

Is there a way to compromise and spend the school week where you are and summers and weekends with your dad? It’s a lot of shuttling back and forth, but it could be a best-of-both worlds … or as close as any of us can get.

Susan, we’ve talked about it, but I don’t believe we could afford to maintain homes at both locations. My Dad only has a two-bedroom. Fine to spend a night every once in a while, but not for extended stays.

With the high speed internet you might be able to enroll the kids in online courses, which are usually run at the state level. Plus there are so many homeschool opportunities these days that you could supplement the country schooling.

I completely hear you in wanting this dream…I have a similar one as you know. Dream away Joely 🙂

With my jam-packed schedule already, I don’t know if it’s even humanly possible to supplement with homeschooling. I know I can’t manage it for all three full-time. Maybe a class here and there wouldn’t kill me. I do so much already, and I know country living will involve much more work. I just don’t know if I could also swing teaching!

Hey, I definitely know your pain, Sis. Every time I visit down home, every time I spend the Fourth with Sean and Kristi on the square, every time I stand on Dad’s back deck and look out over all that green and trees, I want to never leave. I miss living in the country. I always have.

Unfortunately, while you might be able to telecommute with high speed internet, there’s very little a single person can do to make a living down that way. I could work at the local grocery store for minimum wage. I could maaaayyyybe get a job at the courthouse (if one ever opened up again, heh). Or I could work in one of the half-hour-away bigger towns and spend my paycheck in gas getting back and forth.

But yeah. I think about it. If I ever hit the PowerBall jackpot, right? I’ve always said I wouldn’t move anywhere else but home, and at the least, I can look forward to retiring there.

You never know, Sis – you might find an online job like That Man. Of course if he ever changes jobs, then we’re screwed. 🙁 You might also be able to supplement your income with writing! Build up that backlist and I bet you’ll be surprised how much you could be bringing in each month.

I know, I know. I just have so much else on my plate! I honestly don’t know how you do everything at once, Sis, because I always feel like a gerbil on a wheel. *snerk* I’m getting a ton of stuff done, but it’s never enough. There just aren’t enough hours in a day!